The Site of the Museum: Gauforum

Our permanent exhibition on the comprehensive history of forced labor under National Socialism paints a very detailed picture of Nazi society, which was defined by a radical racist ideology. This ideology was based on dual foundations: on the one hand, a set of programs aimed at integrating the supposed majority, the designated “people’s community”; on the other, the alienation, persecution, and ultimately the murder of individuals considered not to belong to this group.  

What better place could there be for presenting such a permanent exhibition than Weimar’s former Gauforum?

This is where Fritz Sauckel, appointed General Commissioner for Labor Deployment in 1942, was supposed to have his office as the district leader (Gauleiter) of Thuringia. As General Commissioner, Sauckel bore central responsibility for the deportation of millions of forced laborers into the German Reich. Although Sauckel never occupied the office building, which remained uncompleted at end of the war, today its monumental architecture still conveys the Nazi’s means of demonstrating power and their exclusionary concept of the “people's community.” Correspondingly, the Gauforum is not a space that opens up to the city but is set apart from its surroundings. The area within this complex of buildings was designed to provide a parade grounds for thousands of “people’s comrades” (Volksgenossen), a space for celebrating the Nazi ideology and functionaries like Sauckel.

Our museum is located the southern wing of the former Gauforum, where the spacious offices of Fritz Sauckel were supposed to be housed. The largest section of the permanent exhibition is situated in what was originally planned as a reception hall for Nazi elites. Here, Sauckel’s function as General Commissioner is explained in detail, along with the impact of the Labor Deployment administration.

The Gauforum in Weimar was never occupied by the Nazis until the end of the war. It was probably the last major construction site of the Reich, which was not considered “essential to the war effort.” Construction work on the monumental four-part set of buildings continued without disruption up until July 1944. Meanwhile, the staff of Sauckel’s Labor Deployment administration worked in offices in the “Thüringenhaus” in Berlin.

Situating our museum in the only nearly completed Gauforum in Germany, constructed as the seat of Fritz Sauckel’s power, is a historical and political intervention. Our aim is to make the place of the perpetrators a place of education. Here visitors can examine how society was formed under National Socialism and what consequences exclusion, persecution, and forced labor had for all those who did not belong to the “people’s community.”

A District Defined by Weimar Modernism

From this perspective, the museum is not only situated in the immediate context of the former Gauforum but also within the overarching framework of Weimar as the City of Classicism with the educational offerings of its museums dedicated to German and European modern history. In close proximity to the museum are the Bauhaus-Museum and Museum Neues Weimar presenting works of art from the early modern period. Within walking distances are the Haus der Weimarer Republik and the City Museum (Stadtmuseum). On the outskirts of the city on the Ettersberg is the Buchenwald Memorial, one of the most important international memorial and educational sites dedicated to the history of National Socialism and its crimes. With a range of coordinated public programs, these institutions are tailored to the general public and present an open invitation to reflect on recent German and European history and on how we wish to live in the future.

For more information on the history of the construction and use of the complex, visit the exhibition “The Gauforum in Weimer – A Legacy of the Third Reich” in the tower building next to our museum and see also the accompanying website, gauforum.de.